A Year in the Life: Part One- The Megidos
by kaybee613
Summary: Skaia High is full of a strange assortment of characters; a myriad of odd friends. They are slowly finding their way, paving their paths as they grow up. This is a compilation of their stories. After the death of her mother, Aradia enters high school without a sense of family. While Aradia copes with loss and life, she wonders how much it can take to make someone snap.
1. Adjustments

Chapter One  
>Adjustments<p>

Aradia crinkled her nose. The house constantly reeked of drugs and sex, though it wasn't nearly as strong upstairs. It wasn't any surprise to her. She'd heard things about Damara, seeing as her best friend's brother was very explicitly involved with her for a long time a few years ago. The girl now residing in Aradia's basement barely spoke English, and had nasty habits of smoking anything she could get her hands on, and almost any guy, too. It was a foul smell, and Aradia wasn't used to it yet. She tried to ignore it, pulling her headphones on further so she could continue watching _Indiana Jones_ on her laptop. It was her own silly tradition to watch the trilogy every year before school started. Usually her dad would watch it with her, but things were strained in the household lately. A loud string of Japanese obscenities streamed upstairs, its volume pulling Aradia from the movie. She slammed her computer shut as she cast the headphones aside, and marched downstairs.  
>"Dad!" she called. She wasn't sure her father was even home, as she'd lost track of the days throughout summer. Peeking into the garage, Aradia checked for his car. Sure enough, it was gone. She was stuck at home with Damara. Aradia let out a groan, leaning her head into the wall. The pictures wobbled slightly around her. Her dark eyes fell onto one. It was an old picture, and she was very young in it, standing between her parents. Her mother, Rachel, was very beautiful. Aradia's heart whined. She wished she'd been able to know her mother better. Her dad was great, though a bit overprotective. Another loud Japanese curse emanated from the basement as Damara stomped up the stairs.<br>"Anata ga mine watashi no kuso o yabutta!" the older girl screeched. Aradia raised her hands gently, trying to defer any anger directed at her.  
>"Damara, I don't- I can't understand what you're saying!" Aradia explained. She knew bits and pieces of Japanese, but could never formulate sentences herself, or decipher what Damara was saying when she spoke fast and angry. Damara paused, giving a fake smile as she spoke slower.<br>"Anata ga mine watashi no kuso o yabutta," she repeated. Aradia furrowed her brow, still unsure of what Damara was trying to say.  
>"Your… what?"<br>"You go in basement?! You break my things." Damara's grasp of English was about as strong as Aradia's grasp of Japanese. The two had their differences to begin with, and the language barrier did not help whatsoever.  
>"Damara, no, I… I never go in the basement!" Aradia shouted back. "I don't appreciate you blaming <em>me <em>when you don't take care of your own things. It's not my fault you're too strung out to notice!"  
>"Little bitch," Damara spat, smiling a mean-spirited smile as the words escaped her lips. Aradia gave a small gasp before turning away and returning to her room. She opened the laptop. <em>Indiana Jones <em>began playing again automatically, but Aradia was more preoccupied with Pesterchum. Luckily for her, Sollux was online.

apocalypseArisen [AA] began pestering twinArmageddons [TA]

AA: hey sollux?  
>TA: what<br>AA: can i come over for a while?  
>AA: i'm not handling this whole sister thing very well<br>TA: well what the fuck makes you think my house is any more stable  
>TA: my dads are fighting, tuna is throwing a tantrum, and my uncle simon is here<br>TA: it's a fucking shit show right now  
>TA: kind of driving me crazy<br>AA: well if you don't want me to add to that mess its fine  
>TA: you know its not that i don't want you here i just don't think it will help you any<br>AA: okay  
>TA: what even happened anyway<br>AA: damara  
>AA: she blamed me for breaking something and called me a bitch<br>AA: and i think she was glad to hurt me  
>TA: wow<br>AA: yeah i mean i knew she was bad from when she was around tavros's brother all the time but i don't think she was ever this bad.  
>AA: theres some part of the story missing<br>AA: but yeah im not… feeling too good about the family right now  
>TA: well AA you can come over if you really want<br>AA: oh wow don't be so persuasive sollux  
>TA: AA come on my family is so god damn embarrassing<br>AA: hah  
>AA: you shouldn't be embarrassed of them<br>AA: for the record i like your family  
>TA: yeah i don't get that you're smart enough to know better<br>TA: youre not supposed to like my family  
>TA: what are you like my girlfriend or something<p>

Aradia smiled at her computer screen. Sollux was too easy to talk to, and he was fun to be around. Aradia had spent more time at his house since the family dynamic got turned on its head. It wasn't hard for Damara to get on Aradia's nerves, and any time she went to her father, the answer was "it's an adjustment period". So she went to Sollux's place, or Tavros's or Feferi's, but usually Sollux's. Not only did Aradia like his fathers, but his fathers liked her. That was more than she could say about her dad's attitude towards Sollux. On more than one occasion, he told Aradia he'd slice the fingers off of any boy that tried to touch her, so Aradia didn't invite friends over very often.

As she made her way down the street, Aradia thought about her friends. There was quite a large group of them, most of them friends of friends, but all of the kids were about to start high school together, and they all got along fairly well, depending on who you asked. Tavros was Aradia's best friend. They roleplayed when they were younger, playing a lot of silly games in the park with Terezi and Vriska as well. His older brother taught both of them how to play Pokémon, too, and they all spent some time doing that together. Sollux was someone she'd met in middle school, and they'd always gotten along. Sollux was very cynical, though, and needed someone lighthearted to get him to smile. Which was rare anyway because he was embarrassed about his braces. It was through Sollux that Aradia met Karkat. He was a grouchy little boy, too wary about showing his albinism to stop dying his hair or wearing color contacts even though it was fairly obvious to everyone he had the slight mutation. He cursed and shouted a lot, and between his and Sollux's bickering, it was obvious they were best friends in spite of it. Their group expanded when a girl named Nepeta joined them halfway through 8th grade. She was nice enough, though Aradia couldn't say they were very close, nor were she and Kanaya. Terezi and Vriska, she knew well since they played together as kids, and stayed a pretty close-knit group through their school days. Not that she liked Vriska all that much. She was something of a bully. Equius, she didn't meet until late last year, after Nepeta joined their little gang. For some reason the hulking brute of a boy and the small girl were best friends. He kind of weirded Aradia out, for the most part. Gamzee had always been more of Karkat's friend, and quite frankly, Aradia didn't know him that well. The last two "members" of the kids' little gang were Eridan and Feferi. Nobody really liked Eridan that much, but they put up with him for Feferi's sake. She was such a nice girl, and for some reason had elected to stand by Eridan when he moved to their town. The two were almost always seen together, and it made Aradia wonder, but she'd known Feferi since they were in kindergarten, and let Fef do whatever was going to make her happiest.

Aradia sighed as she let herself in to Sollux's house. She looked at herself in the mirror perched in his entry hall, brushing a dark strand of hair out of her face. His house was loud, as to be expected when it was packed to the brim with 5 brash men, and especially since Sollux's dads were arguing. Aradia made her way into the main room, where Sollux was trying to ignore his family by sitting on the couch playing video games while his uncle Simon tried hopelessly to jostle him into conversation, and Mituna was trying to pull the controller out of his hand. She silently stood behind the couch, hearing snippets of the conversation between Carl and Barry in the kitchen behind her.  
>"…but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be concern—Aradia!" Barry stopped midsentence and embraced the girl. It was always a warm welcome for her in the Captor household. Aradia giggled and returned the hug, Sollux pausing his game to watch. She greeted the rest of the family one by one, before sitting down next to Sollux.<br>"It's so nice to see you again, Aradia," Carl said warmly. She smiled at him with another small laugh.  
>"Shame we missed your father's wedding," Barry continued as he peered into the fridge. Aradia's face flushed with anger and she sank into her seat next to Sollux. Simon glanced at her, and she eyed him back, though remained silent. He tented his fingers, merely watching as the girl leaned into Sollux, who considered for a moment wrapping an arm around her, only to succumb to his hesitation. While Aradia was well aware of this, she only gave a content smile when Sollux resumed his game. He didn't stay wrapped up in it for very long, however, as Mituna began insisting on being given a turn, so the boy hesitantly tossed his brother the controller.<br>"What, aren't you gonna play me Sol?" Mituna hissed through a deep speech impediment.  
>"No. Knock yourthelf out, lother," Sollux lisped back.<br>"Afraid I'm gonna kick your ass?"  
>"Fuck that noithe… I have a guetht, Tuna. Don't be rude."<br>Aradia dared a glance upwards at Sollux's uncle Simon again. He was still watching the two of them, his fingers tented. A thickness settled in the air before he spoke.  
>"You remind me of Hana…" he murmured. It was nearly inaudible, but Aradia's heart dropped. She had no desire to have anything to do with that woman, and wasn't thrilled about having her around, especially after seeing what a bang-up job she'd done raising Damara.<br>"Yeah, she's… my stepmother. Hana Megido-Droog," Aradia answered quietly. Simon didn't say anything else, and Sollux just watched her from his peripheral vision.  
>The five Captors and Aradia sat down to dinner, in which Simon got emphatically angry about the days he spent working for Miss Peixes and Mituna, being himself, picked up on his uncle's volume levels and added to it with strings of shouts and curses about his own group of friends. Aradia remained quiet. She knew there was no way to calm the older brother down, and she didn't really know how to gauge Simon yet, so she, Sollux, and his dads tried hopelessly to carry their own conversation. Once they were finished eating, the two thirteen-year-olds were dismissed as the adults cleared the table. The volume levels only decreased slightly as Sollux and Aradia sat in the bedroom he shared with his brother, and Aradia swore she heard what sounded like a few dishes breaking, but it was enough solitude for the two to finally be able to talk.<br>"So what's your uncle doing here?" Aradia asked. The man had a strange aura, and she wondered how he knew her stepmother, but it wasn't a pressing wonder.  
>"He quit hith job. I gueth hith both wath really over-demanding, and hath been for yearth, and he finally blew a gathket working for her. Tho he'th crashing here until he findth thomething elthe."<br>"Well, he certainly does add to the volume level around here," Aradia answered with a giggle.  
>"I mean, we're uthed to the noithe, but Thimon getth going, and it thetth Tuna off too, tho he'th throwing tantrumth and getting mad at thtupid shit Cronuth thaid like a year ago, and it'th ridiculouth. But my dad ith all defenthive for him, thaying 'he'th my brother and we need to be there for him, <em>Barry<em>' and they're fighting about that, too, tho it'th a whole meth right now." Sollux sighed, falling onto his bed. Aradia laid down next to him and they both stared at the ceiling together. "Tho how'th the Droog houthehold going?"  
>"Megido-Droog now," Aradia corrected him. "And not good. I mean, my dad really does seem to be in love with Hana, which is… good for him, I guess. It was a really dark time after my mom died for both of us, but Hana is horrible to me, and Damara is worse. It's just… weird around there lately."<br>Sollux rolled onto his side, looking at Aradia from behind his glasses. She watched his heterochromatic eyes study her, one a burgundy-esque color, blurring somewhere between red and brown, and the other a deep, rich blue that felt like the ocean. "I think we both jutht need thome time to adjutht."  
>"Yeah," Aradia repeated, "time to adjust."<p> 


	2. Like Swallowing Nails

Chapter Two  
>Like Swallowing Nails<p>

Aradia did her best to skirt around family breakfast. It would do her no pleasure to sit down with Hana and Damara, and instead took a small bowl of cereal to the couch while the other three members of the household sat together. She mindlessly ate, her eyes kind of swaying about the room, refusing to focus on any one thing. Voices drifted into her ears, and Aradia picked up snippets of Damara's Japanese ramble while Hana translated to her father. Daniel Droog was trying to learn his new wife's language, but he struggled with it immensely. Aradia supposed it was good of him to try. She knew in her heart that Hana couldn't possibly be all bad, that there was just a rift in the family, but the whole situation felt like utter shit and she tried as hard as she could to distance herself from the other women who suddenly stepped into her life. She placed her bowl and spoon curtly in the sink and paced into the other room where her schoolbag sat by the door, waiting for its first excursion into the world. A picture hung on the wall above it. It was their old family portrait. Aradia was near entranced by it. Her mother was beautiful, light blonde hair set atop a round face with a warm smile. She was mid-laugh in the photo, and Daniel stood opposite her, his gaze oozing pure adoration. And a young Aradia, three or four years old charging at the camera with a huge smile on her face and her hands covered in dirt. She smiled at the photo, trying not to let any tears pool in her eyes. Aradia wasn't able to remember her mother very well, but she remembered what her dad said over and over after the funeral.  
>"Aradia… you look so much like her. Promise me I won't lose you too," he used to say when he put her to bed and stroked her dark hair at night. He never cried, though. Not that she remembered. As Aradia stared at the picture, the truth of the memory hit her. She did look remarkably like her mother. Same shape, same face, same eyes. The truth was dark hair was all she'd inherited from her father. And it hit her like a brick, a dull, painful realization in the side of her face. For as long as she knew, she missed her mother. But the love of the family was tangible just from their portrait, and Aradia now not only missed her, but needed her more than anything. She stared into the late Rachel Droog's smiling eyes, longing for her to be able to reach out and hug her. But it was impossible. A jangle of keys in the room behind her tore Aradia from the photo. She blinked heavily, stepping backwards. Her backpack still sat by the door, and she grabbed it as her father came around the corner, Damara close behind. She shot Aradia that sickeningly evil grin as the three got in the car.<p>

Aradia sat in the back, her knees drawn up to her chest as her father pulled up to Skaia High. Damara leapt out of the car immediately, hardly turning back to say goodbye while Aradia shifted slowly in the back seat, moving towards the door. Daniel turned backwards in the driver's seat, looking at her. The sadness and anger was clear in her eyes as she looked up to meet his.  
>"Dad…" she murmured. A question formed a lump in her throat, and she didn't dare say it aloud. It was an impossible request anyway. Daniel seemed to know what she was going to say without her having to say it. He wanted Rachel back too, but they both knew it was time to move on. He placed a hand gently on Aradia's shoulder.<br>"I know, sweetheart. I…" Daniel closed his eyes, searching for the words for a moment. Aradia moved his hands to his.  
>"It's okay, Dad," she murmured, hoisting her backpack up by the back handle and getting out of the car. Daniel took a moment, breathing a heavy sigh before he drove off.<p>

Aradia wasn't more than 3 steps away from the curb before a clanking noise caused her to turn back towards the drop-off lane.  
>"Mr. Boxcars!" she called, watching a large, heavy-set man struggle to pull a wheelchair out of his trunk. She ran over to help, and he immediately stepped back.<br>"Eh, go ahead, your hands are smaller anyway," he grumbled. Aradia twisted the chair carefully out of the sedan trunk and unfolded it on the sidewalk next to the back seat of the car, smiling at Tavros through the window. After getting him out and settled in his chair, Aradia began to push him towards the school building, Tavros's brother Rufioh walking next to them.  
>"So what's Mr. Boxcars doing watching you guys?" she asked the Nitram boys. Rufioh scoffed.<br>"Mom and Dad are on another business trip," Tavros said.  
>"Tried to tell them, I'm 17 now and we don't need a babysitter," Rufioh added. "But they insist."<br>"How's Damara?" Tavros asked. Aradia's smile fell, herself and Rufioh exchanging a knowing glance. The older boy ran a hand through his red-tipped Mohawk.  
>"Oh, you know…" Aradia said. She had no intent of getting into the gritty details. It was difficult enough going to Sollux with them.<br>"Crazy as ever?" Rufioh asked with a laugh. Aradia's smile returned, and she laughed and nodded.

Before long, Rufioh was pulled away by Equius's brother Horuss, leaving Aradia and Tavros in the hall. Their lockers were near each other, the school being understanding enough to leave his on a lower row.  
>"So what's your schedule?" Tavros asked, turning the combination into his lock. Aradia took a moment to wrestle with one of the papers in her binder to check her schedule.<br>"Um, Biology, Spanish, Geometry, English, P.E., and History," she said as Tavros haphazardly shoved books into his locker. It was a basic list of what high school freshmen were supposed to take. Tavros looked at his own schedule, furrowing his brow for a moment as he muttered to himself, but then looked up and smiled at Aradia.  
>"Cool; we have English together!" he said with a grin. Aradia smiled back at him, glad to share the class with someone. She was sure with the sheer number of people she knew, they would share a fair number of classes together. The bell rang and Aradia ran off to her biology class as Tavros scooted down the hall in the other direction, waving goodbye as he went.<br>"Bye Tavros; see you at lunch!" Aradia called.

The first day of school was uneventful, for the most part. Aradia went to her first class and discovered that she shared biology with Sollux, Feferi, and _Gamzee_, of all people. She decided to share the lab station with her two best friends, and did her best not to mind Gamzee joining them. He was nice enough, but a bit off-putting. Maybe it was the fact that his hair looked like he'd never brushed it in his life, or the fact that he was always higher than a kite, or the fact that he called someone a motherfucker at least once in every sentence, but Aradia never got to know him well, and she kind of didn't want to, but she was now in a position where she might have to. The teacher handed out the syllabus students were required to get signatures for, and talked at them for the full hour. The rest of Aradia's classes were basically the same; discovering who she shared what class with. Spanish was shared with Terezi and Eridan. She sat between Terezi and a blue-eyed boy she didn't quite catch the name of. John Something, she thought. In Geometry, she was joined by Kanaya. She rejoined with Tavros in 4th period English, as well as Vriska, and after that, the three of them walked to lunch where they were joined by the rest of their friends. Aradia sat at the end of the bench next to Tavros, his chair turned into the table. Tavros gave a small wave to another girl from their English class as she took a seat among three others. Aradia thought she recognized one of them as John from her earlier class, but wasn't quite sure. Vriska slid onto the bench beside Aradia.  
>"So, Aradia, how's life?" she asked, drawing out her vowels as she tended to do. Aradia shot a sideways glare at her. They'd spent so long at each other's throats, and yet somehow managed to share the same group of friends.<br>"Living with Damara is just peachy compared to you sometimes," Aradia said, her face emotionless.  
>"What? I'm awesome and you know it."<br>"Mhm, mhm, and I'm sure Tavros just loves being paralyzed from your 'awesomeness'." Vriska's mouth dropped into a scowl as she turned towards Aradia.  
>"You can't prove shit, Megido. It was a freak accident and we all know it," she hissed.<br>Aradia said nothing in response, letting Vriska implode with her own anger. Had Karkat, Sollux, and Kanaya not walked up at that moment, Vriska would have spent several minutes ranting at Aradia senselessly. The three joined them at the lunch table, Sollux forcing Vriska to move to let him take his seat next to Aradia. She picked at her food as her friends made idle chatter and the rest of them arrived. Before she knew it, lunch was over and it was back to class. Aradia thought about Vriska's question as she sat through another 40 minutes of a teacher talking at the class- in P.E. of all things- with Equius and Nepeta next to her. How was life? Everything sucked, at the moment. School was a saving grace, and even then she knew Damara was around somewhere. She refused to give Vriska the real answer to the question, especially when people were around. She didn't need her friends to give her sympathy.

Aradia sat through her last class, history, sitting in the back with Karkat and exchanging complaints about how dumb it was, then made her way to the parking lot and waited for her dad to pick her up. The grass along the sidewalk tickled her ankles. He was running late. She knew this would happen, so she waited. It crossed her mind that Damara was nowhere to be seen, as she waited where they were supposed to wait for her dad after school ended. Aradia sighed, hanging her head. Things were utterly hopeless. Damara appeared next to her, a lit cigarette dangling between her lips. Aradia furrowed her brow, an overwhelming sense of doubt coming to the forefront of her mind.  
>"Damara, you're late," Aradia said, not even bothering to face her stepsister.<br>"I not late. Daniel late," she answered, blowing her smoke in Aradia's face. God, it smelt awful, worse than the weed Damara usually smoke. Aradia stood, facing Damara.  
>"Did you even go to school?" Damara shook her head 'no', still grinning. Aradia scowled at her, awaiting the day her father would realize what a mistake letting Damara and Hana into their lives was. Her teeth dug into the back of her lower lips as she wrestled her frustration into words. They weren't words worth saying, though, and they bounced and screamed in her head waiting for someone to listen and understand, and sat in her throat like swallowing nails. Several minutes passed in silence, and when Daniel Droog's car was spotted at the corner, Damara dropped her cigarette onto the sidewalk, squishing its embers out with her foot. Aradia threw her bag into the back of the car and got in, leaning against the window while Damara got in the passenger seat, resting her feet on the dashboard. Daniel shot a look at her, but said nothing for the moment.<p>

Aradia didn't have many words during family meals anymore, but that evening was different. Hana, Daniel, Damara and Aradia all sat around their small, round table in the kitchen, eating soba Hana spent a good chunk of the evening making for them. Aradia picked at the noodles while everyone else ate enthusiastically.  
>"So, Aradia," Hana said, "you're taking Spanish at school?" Her accent was very distinct, but unlike Damara, Hana had taken the time to learn English when they first moved. Aradia looked up at her, burgundy eyes wide. She knew in her heart Hana was nice enough, if troubled. There was some involvement with Doctor Scratch in her childhood, and if what the rumors said were true, he was not one to be a parental figure. Still, Hana hardly tried to talk to Aradia, so it took her a bit by surprise.<br>"Uhm, yeah, I am… it's a college required thing… foreign languages," Aradia answered, her voice trailing a bit.  
>"It's very nice that you are learning that," Hana continued, ignoring Aradia's blatant disinterest.<br>"Mm, wouldn't call it all that interesting."  
>"Languages are useful, Aradia, and communication; important."<br>Aradia looked back up, her eyes glancing between Hana and her father. "I feel like you're hinting at something, Hana…"  
>"We want you to learn Japanese," Daniel intervened into the conversation. Aradia's eyes went wide and Damara immediately started cackling.<br>"Don't laugh young lady, you need to learn English as well," Hana snapped at Damara.  
>"Dad are you serious?" Aradia screeched. He merely nodded.<br>"Mama, no!" Damara screamed.  
>"You live in America now, you need to know," Hana answered back, remaining calm. Aradia gave up her fight. At the very least, she could hope that bridging the language gap would help her and Damara get along. As she went up to her room, she heard an argument explode in Japanese.<br>"Eigo wa anata ga watashi ga jissai ni gakkō ni iku koto o kitai shi, kono yobun'na, kore wa jūbun ni sono yō na kuso detarame sono warui kata sugiru? Kami no imaimashī watashi wa anata o chikau, anata ga kekkon shite kirainahito ga watashi o kirai!" Damara shouted.  
>"Anata wa sonoyō watashi ni hanashi o aete shinaide kudasai. Anata wa giron no eigo, owari o hanasu hitsuyō ga aru."<br>Daniel just sighed.


	3. Homecoming Is A Thing?

Chapter Three

Homecoming Is a Thing?

Things did not get much better in the couple months that followed. School was the only place she saw any of her friends, as she no longer had time after school due to the Japanese class that Hana and her father forced her into, on top of her other homework. It pained her how many times she'd had to tell Sollux she was busy, or deny Tavros a round of _Magic: The Gathering. _And while she was able to understand more of what Damara said, a lot of it was still really foul things. Her dad was no closer to understanding how she felt, and she wasn't getting any closer to Hana, either. Damara dropped out of school entirely, which meant she was constantly at the house, and very often Aradia would come home to an already-angry older stepsister. Hana was pressuring her to find a job if she wasn't going to take school seriously, but Damara responded with a remarkably well-spoken "fuck you, mom." The whole situation made Aradia want her old life back. She wanted her mother more than ever, even if she'd been too young to really know her at all.

It wasn't right, the way she felt. She seemed to be slipping out of herself, old hobbies piquing no interest whatsoever. The backyard still had some of her old "archaeology sites", and she tried talking herself into digging into them some more, but the mood never really struck her. A cloud hung over her head and all she could think to do was making sure she got her schoolwork done. Her Japanese worksheets were spread across her bed, and as she reviewed them, her computer pinged with a notification from Pesterchum. She stood up and sat by the computer, reading the bright pink messages as they appeared.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began pestering apocalypseArisen [AA]

CC: Hey Aradia!  
>CC: Just wanted to make shore everything was okay with you.<br>CC: You've seemed all out of sorts lately.  
>CC: And just kind of sad.<br>CC: I don't know, I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better.  
>CC: Shello?<br>CC: Okay, I'll let you be, then.  
>CC: But please remember you can talk to me, or any of us!<p>

Feferi wasn't the only one who'd been trying to get in contact with Aradia outside of school, though she was probably the most vocal about it. Aradia had messages from Kanaya, Tavros, Nepeta, even _Karkat_, who never seemed like he gave a shit about anything based on the way he was so angry all the time. But she didn't answer any of them. She never answered, until Sollux messaged her.

twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering apocalypseArisen [AA]

TA: AA.  
>TA: hey.<br>TA: wanna do something later?

Aradia scanned the messages a few times over before allowing herself access to the keyboard.

TA: AA, you there?  
>AA: yeah hi sollux<br>AA: sorry  
>AA: my mind is just<br>AA: everywhere lately  
>TA: yeah, i, uh…<p>

There was a long pause between messages before Aradia's computer pinged again.

TA: i'm kind of worried about you, aradia.  
>TA: you haven't seemed yourself lately.<br>AA: i know  
>AA: im sorry<br>TA: don't be sorry, just let yourself have fun.  
>TA: come out with me tonight.<br>AA: i guess i can do that. what did you have in mind sollux  
>TA: i dunno, maybe a movie?<br>TA: i'll see what's playing, and one of my dads will take us.  
>AA: alright sollux<br>AA: ill see you later then

Aradia fell backwards onto her bed. Her unhappiness was so obvious to everyone. She hadn't felt so lonely and dark since she first discovered her mother's death. Still, it was kind-hearted of Sollux to make sure she was feeling okay. The two kids had always been drawn towards each other, both having strange attractions to death and "the doomed", and hobbies that others might consider bizarre, and on multiple occasions the two had been jeered at, people assuming they were something of an item. While it wasn't an unwelcome thought, neither of them acted on their attraction towards the other, and remained close friends. Though they weren't a couple, Aradia still thought it would be nice to dress herself up a little bit, mostly in the hopes that it might make her feel better, but also secretly wanting Sollux to notice a little bit.

After having picked out a red dress and a grey cardigan to go over it, Aradia waited for Sollux downstairs, killing time on her phone. Before too long, the car horn beeped outside her house and Aradia raced out the door, a small smile on her face. Daniel came in as his daughter raced outside, calling out, "bye, Dad!" as she went. He placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her around immediately.  
>"Whoa, whoa, where're ya goin', sweetheart?" he asked.<br>"Um, Sollux and I were going to go see a movie," Aradia answered, gesturing to the car waiting in the street for her. Daniel sneered as Sollux gave a small wave from the back seat.  
>"You ain't goin' on a date or anything, are ya?"<br>Aradia blushed a bit. "No, Dad, it's not a date. Can I go now?"  
>"Yeah, I s'pose," Daniel grumbled and stalked into the house as Aradia climbed into the back seat of Sollux's dads' van.<br>"Hi Sollux," she said with a grin.  
>"Hey AA," he answered, his cheeks brightening a bit.<br>"Are either of you assholes intending on including me in the conversation or am I just third-wheeling all your lovey-dovey bullshit all night?"  
>Aradia jumped in her seat as Karkat screeched at the two of them from the seat behind Sollux, who only blushed even more.<br>"Karkat shut up. I _told_ you Aradia and I had plans," Sollux hissed back at him. Aradia's smile shrank, but didn't disappear despite listening to the two boys bicker for the entire drive.

The movie wasn't anything special, and Karkat complained about every stupid thing he noticed, but Aradia ignored him. It was enough to be spending time with her friends. After the credits rolled, the three kids waited outside the theater for Sollux's dad to return, and drive them home. Sollux was quiet as Karkat continued rambling about how awful the movie was, his bespectacled eyes intently filled with nervousness as his face continued to paint itself red. Aradia glanced at him, curious as to why she could see small beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. He shot a look at Karkat, who rolled his eyes before walking a few yards away.

Sollux turned towards Aradia, giving her a small, nervous smile.  
>"Hey, AA…"<br>"Yeah, Sollux?"  
>Sollux grunted, clearing his throat a little bit. "Um… I- sorry about KK."<br>"That's alright. It was nice just to get out."  
>"Yeah, I was hoping you would say something like that," Sollux paused, rubbing the back of his neck. His throat choked up with hesitation as Aradia looked on, waiting for him to say something. "Uh, Aradia, there was a reason I asked you to come out with me, and, uh… I…" Aradia's heart was pounding. She'd never felt so nervously excited, and while she thought she knew what Sollux was going to ask, she still wanted to hear him say it. "Uh… you know there's a dance coming up like, next weekend? Homecoming or… something stupid like that…"<br>"No, I… didn't hear about it," Aradia mumbled. She'd been so drenched in her own discontent that school functions were the last thing she'd thought about.  
>"Oh, well, it's dumb, but everyone's going, so I thought…"<br>"Hey dipshit, spit it out!" Karkat yelled. Sollux lost any nerve he had and turned away from Aradia.  
>"KK, you're such an asshole! I… just… nevermind, AA, it was stupid." Sollux shoved his hands into his pockets and marched over to Karkat, speaking quietly to him. Aradia frowned, finding herself disappointed yet again.<p>

The ride back home was quiet, Aradia leaning against the window. They pulled up to her house first and her hand lingered on the door handle, as she waited for Sollux to say something.  
>"Uh, bye, AA. See you at school," he murmured as she left the car.<br>"Yeah… see ya."  
>She walked upstairs and straight into her room, laying her head down on the desk. Why'd she have to go and get her hopes up that something might happen between… she felt so horrendously foolish. Why would anyone show interest in a girl who hadn't shown any interest in not only the boy, but in anything lately? Aradia just sat for a while, absorbing the quiet. Eventually she moved to her bed, listening to gentle music as she tried to escape into a book. Her dad came upstairs and knocked on the door, but she refused to answer. Her eyes closed, pushing back tears she denied were even forming. After a while, Aradia's phone went off. Her eyes drifted towards it as it lit up with Sollux's name, yet she didn't bother to answer. It wasn't until Aradia sat through (and hardly ate) dinner and shut herself back in her room that she checked the voicemail Sollux left for her.<br>"Hey… AA… log in to Minecraft. I'll be on the server for most of the night, but I built something for you. Uhm, call me later, I guess."  
>With a furrow of her eyebrows, Aradia slid into her computer desk chair and logged into Minecraft, but not before calling Sollux over Pesterchum. Voice calling was such a useful function for gaming, and yet none of her friends ever seemed to use it. Aradia managed to connect to her and Sollux's Minecraft world, aptly named Honey-Made Apocalisp after a coupe inside jokes, as Sollux answered her voice call.<br>"Hi Sollux," she murmured.  
>"Hey! For some reason I didn't think you would log on."<br>"Well, you asked me to, didn't you?"  
>"Yeah, I just thought, since you didn't answer your phone…hey, listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I just-"<br>"Don't worry about it, Sollux. Was there… something you wanted to show me?"  
>"Uh! Yeah! It's behind the house a little ways," Sollux lisped into his microphone. His on-screen avatar jumped and ran to the other side of their pixelated home, Aradia following. Written along the side of the hill in red, yellow, and blue wool was an abbreviated question: will u go 2 dance with me? Aradia gasped loudly, both hands quickly covering her mouth as her eyes widened with surprise.<br>"Sollux, I… I didn't think…"  
>"I figured, since everyone else is going, you and I might just… tag along. I'm not much of a dancer, but I'd like to take you. What d'ya say, AA?"<br>"Uhm, I… Sollux, I… I'd love to go," Aradia said, letting a small smile form.


	4. Potential Dance-saster

"He asked you to homecoming?!" Hana gushed. Aradia had never seen her stepmother so excited about anything, while Damara simply glared at her from across the table. Aradia assumed nobody had asked her yet, which, while it was understandable for her to be upset to not have a date to her last homecoming, Aradia thought was not worth being a poor sport over. Homecoming was not a big deal to Aradia, and she probably would not have gone at all had Sollux not asked her out. Hana was utterly beaming. "Aradia, Damz, we're going dress shopping!" Daniel groaned from the other room, hiding himself behind a newspaper in his lounge chair. It was rare that he heard the girls talk about "girly shit", but when it did happen, he shut every word of it out.  
>"Um, yeah, we can go dress shopping," Aradia agreed, her lack of enthusiasm hardly dampering Hana's. Damara groaned.<br>"Okāsan wa, watashi wa doresu no kaimononiiku shitakunai. Dare demo damu dansu ni watashi o tazuneta," she pleaded.  
>"Damara, don't be silly. Go to the dance and spend time with your friends." Damara responded with a roll of her eyes. "Now let's go! We have to get you girls looking nice!"<br>"Wait, we're going right now?" Aradia quipped. "Can I bring Feferi along? I'm sure she's looking for a dress as well."  
>Hana glanced at Aradia, still donning a giant smile. "Of course! The more, the merrier!" As kind as it seemed, Aradia felt there was something about the Peixeses that Hana didn't care for. The three girls climbed into the car, Aradia taking the back seat behind Damara, who kept her earbuds in the whole time. It was unclear whether she was actually listening to music or feigning it to eavesdrop, but for once, Aradia didn't care. Aradia texted Feferi the situation as they pulled out of the driveway, and she said she'd be ready whenever they arrived. For the first time in a while, Aradia felt pretty damn happy about something. It was exciting that Hana was taking them shopping. It was exciting that Aradia would get to spend the afternoon with Feferi as well, and it was exciting to be going to the dance with her friends, but mostly that Sollux had asked her in a very date-like manner, even if that meant he'd have to deal with her father.<br>Hana pulled in to Feferi's driveway, and the tan girl hopped into the car with them.  
>"Hey Aradia!" she exclaimed, pulling her friend into a hug. That was the thing everybody liked about Feferi. She was always full of bubbly happiness, and it drew lots of people towards her. "Hi Damara, hi, Miss Megido!" Aradia gave a small laugh of a sigh and leaned back in her seat.<p>

When the four girls arrived at the mall, it was with excitement and smiles. Even Damara seemed to perk up a bit at the prospect of finding a nice dress to wear to homecoming. Feferi grabbed Aradia by the hand and darted around the mall walkways, oozing happiness at all the window displays.  
>"Ho my gosh, Aradia, that would look so pretty on you!" Feferi exclaimed, pointing at a stylized bomber jacket in the window of <em>Forever 21<em>. Aradia felt her face flush a bit.  
>"You think so?"<br>"Duhhhh. You're like, super-pretty, Aradia. No wonder-" Feferi seemed to catch herself saying something she wasn't supposed to, and swallowed the trailing thought back. Aradia furrowed her brow, but gave it no further thought.  
>"Alright, girls, we came for homecoming dresses," Hana said, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. She steered them towards a specialty dress shop, Damara trailing behind her. The store was astounding, dresses of all cuts and shapes hanging from the walls and racks, organized by color. Once again, Feferi was overcome with joy at the sight of all the frills and gems and genuinely gorgeous dresses, though she focused mainly on the bright pink ones. Within ten or fifteen minutes, Feferi had gathered several dozen dresses to try on, while Aradia mulled over some red ones more slowly. Most of the dresses were on the shorter side, and while that felt appropriate for a dance like homecoming, at least in Aradia's perspective, she wasn't quite comfortable enough with herself to wear dresses quite that short. With an overwhelming amount of hesitation, Aradia pulled a longer dress off the rack, and mulled over a few others. Damara also lingered among the red dresses, though she'd already pulled a few off for herself. She glanced towards her stepsister, who was clearly having a hard time deciding on a dress. Damara grabbed a couple longer dresses, then tapped Aradia on the shoulder.<br>"You try these," she muttered, thrusting the dresses towards Aradia.  
>"Um. Thanks…" Aradia murmured, before both girls proceeded towards the fitting room, where Feferi had been for quite a while.<br>"Aradia, I can't decide!" Feferi shouted. Aradia stifled a laugh.  
>"Well, I can't really, either," Aradia answered. "How about we show each other the next ones?"<br>"Alright. I'll be ready in a minute."  
>"Okay. Um, Damara, did you want an opinion on anything?"<br>"Yes, I come out too."  
>Aradia took a small breath as she stepped into her next option. It was one she'd picked up herself, though it didn't look fantastic on the rack, but as she pulled it on, Aradia fell in love with the dress. It had a single thick shoulder strap that fell into an asymmetrical neckline, and the skirt that attached at the waist was slightly pleated, with a waving pattern that fell to the floor. In a split second, Aradia had made up her mind, stepping out of the dressing room.<br>"Feferi, you have to see this," she said, her voice weighted with happiness. Feferi stepped out of her own room, her eyes lighting up.  
>"Aradia! Get that dress! Please!"<br>"Only if you get that one," Aradia agreed, nodding at Feferi's current choice. It was a short, strapless pink dress with its top bejeweled and its bottom covered by poofy tule twirled into giant flowers. It showed off Feferi's legs, which were not only long but also muscular, in an incredibly flattering way. Feferi smiled at her friend.  
>"If you insist!"<br>Damara then also stepped out of her fitting room, a pleased smile plastered across her face.  
>"I get this one," she said, showing off a tight strapless black dress. Its skirt puffed out a bit beneath the red sash tied around the middle.<p>

Once the three girls had decided on their dresses, and shown their selections off to Hana, they paid for them and left, heading to the food court for lunch. Feferi waved her mother's credit card around like it was nothing, and bought herself an expensive few sushi rolls, which she offered Damara a few bites of, while Aradia, Damara and Hana just got _Hot Dog on A Stick. _It wasn't a favorite to any of them, but Aradia didn't mind. At least the fries were good. As they all sat around a small table, Feferi began talking about her homecoming plans.  
>"Aradia, I'm having everyone come to my house before Homecoming to take pictures. You should come too! I mean, Sollux said he would ask you if you wanted to, but I'd really like you to go as well!"<br>"Wait, the dance is this Saturday, right?" Aradia asked. "As in, a week from yesterday?" Feferi nodded.  
>"Yeah, and we're all getting dinner before too. Or at least, that was the plan, but I think everybody is okay with that."<br>"Who's all going?"  
>"Tavros, and I think he invited this girl Jade. He meant it as a date, but you know how he is, and then she asked if her other friends could come along so… Tavros, Jade, and John, Rose and Dave I think? Then Sollux and you, I hope, and Karkat, who I think is 'going' with Terezi. Nepeta and Equius, Kanaya, Vriska, Eridan's coming with me, and Gamzee. The whole gang!"<br>"Wow. Sounds… fun," Aradia said. It did, but the sheer number of people would make pictures a damn nightmare.  
>"So you'll go?!"<br>"Of course, Fef. If you insist."  
>"Yay! Damara, you should come too! My sister is having everyone from your guys'es class come over beforehand, too, but we're eating at different restaurants."<br>"Include Horuss and Rufioh? Pass," Damara snarled. Hana nudged her shoulder, and Damara let out a loud groan. "Fine. I go. Though not a fan of Meenah either. Feferi shrugged the second comment off, knowing her sister could be a bit brash.

Aradia drudged her way through another week of school, but for once she did so with cheer. Jade and her friends had slowly drifted towards Aradia's own friends during lunch, and the 12 integrated to become 16, and occasionally, 19, with the addition of a Jake, a Jane, and a Dirk. She thought it odd how all her friends somehow had siblings that were also all the same age, but it wasn't an important detail to dwell on. Soon, Saturday came, and Aradia spent a good two or three hours just prepping herself. It was rare that Aradia wore makeup, but this was a special occasion. Hana helped her arrange her thick mess of hair into a wide braid that flowed down her shoulder, and another, smaller braid that laid across the top of her head like a hairband. She shaded her eyes with a red eyeshadow that faded to brown on the outside, and applied a thin amount of eyeliner. The finishing touch, in Aradia's eyes, was a bright red lipstick. It made her eyes pop, or at least that was what Hana said. Finally, in her new dress and a borrowed pair of small, black heels, Aradia was ready to go. She waited for Damara to finish getting ready so they could both go to the Peixes' house at the same time, even if that meant suffering through Damara's driving.  
>Aradia sat at the kitchen table waiting for Damara to finish herself when her father entered the room. He saw her as she looked up at him, and a soft smile fell upon his face.<br>"That's my girl," he muttered. Never one to get emotional, Daniel excused himself into the other room as Hana came down the stairs with her camera. She began buzzing around Aradia like a fly, the camera flash going off every few seconds before Damara came running down the stairs after her. Aradia thought her stepsister looked gorgeous, keeping a red theme throughout her makeup, but also embracing her ethnicity with the style of it. Her hair was twisted into a small bun at the back of her head, but other than that, kept perfectly straight.  
>"Mama, stop with the camera," Damara said, Hana playing keep-away-the-camera with her. Damara rolled her eyes, then turned and slipped an elbow around Aradia's, pulling her backwards towards the door. "Fine, come. We late."<br>"Wait!" Hana called, "I want a picture of you two together." Damara turned around and gave a plainly fake smile long enough to satisfy Hana's photo-taking itch, then drug Aradia out to the car. It was clear Damara wasn't thrilled about the situation at all, but she knew she could handle it. She always handled it, though the quality of her "handling" varied. It usually depended on who you asked.  
>Luckily for Aradia, Feferi didn't live very far away. Damara's haphazard driving skills and disregard for basic safety always resulted in quite unpleasant drives. Aradia leapt out of the car as quickly as she could manage to, and darted to the front door, which had been left slightly open. Aradia let herself in, quickly spotting her friends in the backyard. They were carefully arranged a safe distance from the large pool, so Aradia slipped out the glass door separating inside from outside and joined them, creeping in next to Sollux.<br>"Hey you," she said, gripping his hand with a bit of a smirk. Sollux jumped.  
>"Oh, Aradia! I didn't see you come in," he said. He smiled widely at her, his eyes shining with happiness. Aradia smiled back for a brief moment, before noticing his eyes, a surprisingly dull brown when compared to his usual dynamic, oddly-colored eyes. Her smile vanished.<br>"Sollux, are you wearing colored contacts?"  
>"Um… yeah. Do you like them?"<br>She couldn't answer right away, trying to formulate an answer before opening her mouth.  
>"I… always like your eyes, Sollux," Aradia said, looking away to prevent him from seeing her blush.<br>"Oh…" was all he managed to spurt out before both of them focused back on the horde of parents taking pictures. So many pictures. Pictures of the group as a whole, pictures of those going as a date, pictures of siblings together, pictures of the boys and pictures of the girls, an hour and a half just of pictures. When it was finally said and done, Feferi and her friends split off from her sister and her friends, each group caravanning to the restaurant of their choosing. Naturally, Feferi chose a seafood place.  
>Dinner was loud and crowded, but Aradia managed to have enough fun, though she still wasn't driven to talk to any of her new 'friends'. Sitting between Tavros and Sollux was just fine with her, though Tavros was distracted by Vriska most of the evening. Before too long, the group headed over to the high school for the dance itself. Aradia thought it was a bit lame to have the dance in the high school gym, but the school didn't have enough funding, or enough that was allocated for anything other than athletics, so it was what it was.<p>

Aradia had never seen anything like it. A mob of students jumping and throbbing to the beat of the music echoing through the room, the floor vibrating, pumping with the bass. A small smile came across her face as she pulled Sollux by the hand into the mosh of people. The two danced to the beat for hours, occasionally being joined by the others, bumping and jumping. While Sollux took a break, Terezi jokingly grinded on Aradia and the two laughed once the song ended, Vriska cackling somewhere nearby. Everyone came and went, having a good time as they did so.  
>Aradia rejoined Sollux after that song, taking a break with him and sitting in the chairs. There was a glass of punch waiting for her.<br>"Did you get this for me?" she asked Sollux as she took a seat next to him.  
>"Mhm. Thought you might be thirsty after all that dancing."<br>"It is pretty warm out there."  
>"Mhm…" Sollux's voice trailed off, his gaze focused on Aradia. He struggled to keep his toothy smile hidden, attempting to keep his braces out of sight. Aradia giggled.<br>The two of them just sat and talked for a while, enjoying each other's presence. Eventually, Aradia cleared her throat.  
>"Do you want to go dance again?" she asked.<br>Sollux let out a small sigh. "Nah, I'm all good on the crowd-surfing front," he muttered. "A little too busy out there for me. I think I'm done dancing for the night."  
>"If that's the case," a gruff voice came from behind Aradia. She saw Sollux's distinct grimace, "might I enjoy a dance with the lady?" Aradia turned. Standing behind her in a deep blue dress shirt and slim black jacket was none other than the frighteningly tall Equius Zahhak. She tilted her head sideways. Sure, she and Equius were friends, or at the very least, shared friends, but this seemed really out of character for the boy. Disregarding this, Aradia gave a small nod and took to the dance floor with him, looking back at Sollux, now in a disgruntled slump in his chair, and mouthed, 'I'll be back soon' to him.<br>Equius was surprisingly graceful for his size, twirling Aradia to the pop music. She spun and whirled and laughed with him, finding herself having an unexpectedly good time.  
>"I couldn't help but notice you tonight," he said in his low voice. Aradia looked up at him. "You look quite stunning in that dress, if I may say so, Miss Megido."<br>"Wow. Um, thanks," she said. It was a nice compliment, but Aradia found it a bit off-putting nonetheless. Perhaps that was because she found Equius a bit off-putting. Their dancing only lasted a few minutes, and when the song ended, Equius gave a gracious 'thank you', and stalked off into the crowd, presumably to find Nepeta. Aradia returned to the table where she and Sollux had been sitting, as the DJ announced he'd soon be playing a song suitable for a slow-dance. As nervous as she was, Aradia wanted Sollux to slow-dance with her, but he wasn't at their seats. She furrowed her brow for a moment, but decided to sit and wait. He was easily the person she had the most fun with, and she thought it silly to get lost on the dance floor with everyone else and make him look for her among the crowd when she returned.  
>Footsteps came behind her. Aradia stood, expecting it to be Sollux. Instead, when she turned, she saw the angry face of Damara. Before she even had a moment to react, a harsh hand struck her face, leaving it stinging.<br>"You dance with Zahhak boy?! Stay away from Zahhaks…they bad news," Damara shouted over the pounding music, and stormed off without another word. Aradia stood by the table alone, holding a hand to her wounded cheek with tears forming in her eyes. Everything seemed to fall to silence around her until she felt a hand on her shoulder and was shaken back to reality.  
>"Aradia? Aradia, are you okay?" Sollux said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Did something happen? Come on, let's go sit outside." Her legs moved stiffly as he tried to walk her towards the door, and then the tears overflowed. Through her own crying, she managed to stammer out a few short sentences.<br>"Damara just… Sollux, sorry, I- I have to go."


	5. Halloween

Chapter Five

Halloween

Aradia walked home, her feet sore from walking bare on the pavement as her heels clinked against each other while she carried them. After a while, the tears dried from her cheeks and all she felt was the cold air around her shoulders. There was no more room for sadness. She couldn't bear the emotional pain anymore. Would it be better to simply feel nothing at all?  
>She slipped her house key into the front lock and gently pushed the door open, being careful not to wake Hana or her father as she crept into her room and collapsed on the bed. She felt one tear roll down her cheek as she stared at the ceiling.<br>"Mom… I miss you," she said to nobody. "I miss you and I need you… I don't like what's happening right now. I don't like this new sister, I don't like not having you here, and I don't like growing up without- without my mother!" She started freely crying again, sobs convulsing in her chest. She curled up into herself, burying herself in blankets and crying herself to sleep without even changing out of her dress.

When Aradia woke up the next morning, her heart was filled with numbness. She put on some old pajamas just to spend the day at home, and checked her cell phone briefly. It was flooded with text messages from her friends, most notably Sollux, Feferi, and Tavros, though there were even a few from Terezi. Aradia sighed, choosing to not even read them. There was no point in reliving the events of Homecoming, or at least, the bad moments. Because most of the night was insanely fun, but not quite what she had hoped. There was no point in feeling sad anymore, not in Aradia's mind. She was tired of opening herself up to so much hurt. Light had barely begun peeking in through her window, and it suited her mood. The sting in her cheek had turned to numbness, and it was all she could feel: numb.  
>Aradia didn't leave her room that day. She spent the Sunday in her pajamas, marathoning through one of her favorite shows: <em>Friends<em>. But the usual warmth and happiness it gave her wasn't there. Her father came up a couple times, to make sure she was okay, but Aradia never went to the door for him. She said she was fine, and he said fine, and that was that.  
>Aradia maintained this silence through school the next day. Several people asked her what happened at homecoming, and the response was always, "Nothing. I just needed to go home earlier than I thought." At lunch, she sat away from everyone else, not really eating anything, but just picking at her food. There were a few moments in which she glanced up at the table all her friends were sitting at, and occasionally saw Sollux looking at her from afar. He never once approached, though, and Aradia found herself wondering what he thought of her. She'd never wanted to embarrass him, and felt a twinge of shame as she thought about how he must have looked, standing there with his date having just run out on him. How awful that must have felt. But then Sollux would look away, and Aradia felt as awful as he must have. She'd embarrassed him and blown her only chance, and she felt so incredibly foolish. But the more she thought about it, the less she felt bad. It wouldn't matter, in the long run. Damara was the one who'd caused the whole thing, and Aradia could guarantee her stepsister felt no guilt whatsoever.<br>After lunch, Aradia made her way to gym class. As she stood changing out at her locker, she spotted Nepeta peering around the corner at her. A curious eyebrow shot up from the small girl, but Aradia just kept to herself.  
>"Hey Aradia," Nepeta said, nearly purring as she did so. Aradia turned towards her. "You weren't at lunch today."<br>"How kind of you to notice," Aradia muttered, pulling her gym shirt on.  
>"Is everything okay?"<br>"Yes, Nep, everything is fine. I'm having a rough time at home lately."  
>"Oh nooo, Aradia, that's no good! Do you need someone to talk to?"<br>"No, it's fine. I'm fine. Besides, don't you think this is kind of a strange place to talk about my mental welfare?"  
>"Well, I just wanted to check on you," Nepeta said with a toothy smile.<br>"Why?" Aradia asked, her voice deadpan.  
>"Beclaws you're my friend, silly!" Aradia rolled her eyes. She didn't understand the whole cat pun thing, though Nepeta tended to do it frequently. "And Equius asked me to, heehee."<br>"Oh."  
>Nepeta grew quiet for a moment before raising her olive green eyes back to Aradia. "Um, Tavros told me in Geometry class this morning he was thinking about throwing a Halloween party, or a get-together or something… and we talked about it at lunch and uhm, he asked me to mention it to you."<br>Aradia met Nepeta's nervous glance. "That might be nice," she murmured.  
>"So… you'll go?"<br>Aradia shrugged. "Halloween's a few weeks away."  
>"Aradia, it's next Saturday."<br>"Oh."  
>The two girls studied each other for several quiet minutes, until they were ushered out of the locker room by Ms. Mendicant to do their stretches for the morning. P.E. wasn't a horrible class, but Aradia certainly didn't enjoy it. For one, they were all assigned numbers based on their last name, so Aradia was separated from the only two people in the class she knew very well. Equius was at the back of the class and Nepeta was a few rows back, leaving Aradia surrounded by mostly idiot boys who found it acceptable to harass her because she wasn't the skinniest of girls. But it didn't bother her very much that day, or any of the days for the rest of the week. In fact, Aradia shut most of the days out, until the Saturday morning she realized it was Halloween.<br>She'd promised Tavros she would go over early and help him set up things for the party, so she threw her costume from the year before into a bag, along with sleep-over essentials, and got a ride from her dad. It wasn't a long drive. The Nitrams only lived a few streets down, actually, but Daniel usually offered a ride anyway, even more so if he wanted to talk to Aradia. Today was one of those days. He let out a heavy sigh as they pulled up outside Tavros's house. Aradia looked over at him.  
>"…Dad?"<br>"Aradia, you know I love you, right?"  
>"Of course I know that."<br>"You know you can come to me about anything, right?"  
>"Um, yeah…"<br>There was a pause. Daniel sighed again.  
>"Do I tell you that enough?" Aradia faltered as her father continued to speak. "I'm sorry, I just… I'm worried about ya, kid. You ain't been yourself lately. Good to see ya gettin' out more."<br>"Dad, don't be sorry. It's just been… hard."  
>"I know it ain't easy, hon. But you shouldn't be afraid to come talk to your old man, alright?"<br>"Alright," Aradia answered, with the smallest glimpse of a smile.  
>"Alright. Now have a good time tonight, kiddo."<p>

Aradia slung her bag over her shoulder and walked up to Tavros's door, knocking to the rhythm of _Shave and a Haircut. _After a few moments and the slight squeak of wheels stopping near the door, Tavros knocked back _Two Bits_ before swinging the door open to let Aradia in.  
>"Hey Tav," Aradia said, crossing the threshold.<br>"Hi, Aradia," Tavros answered, smiling. "You seem, um, better."  
>"I'm okay."<br>"Thanks for helping me set everything up."  
>"No problem," Aradia said as the two of them moved into the kitchen, where tons of unopened bags of snacks and candy lay among several various sized bowls all strewn across the counter and tables. Aradia glanced around at the sheer amount of food. "Did, ah, Rufioh help you find everything?" she asked, muffling a snicker.<br>"What's so funny?" Tavros asked, his voice raising to an unusually indignant level.  
>"It's just a lot of food, Tav. How many people are there supposed to be coming tonight?"<br>"Um, like 16? And Rufioh."  
>"He's not doing anything for Halloween? Weird."<br>"No, Horuss invited him to do something but he said no."  
>"Horuss?" Aradia asked.<br>"Oh, yeah, Horuss. He's Equius's brother. Rufioh used to hang out with him a lot last year, but he hasn't been as much lately."  
>"Weird."<br>The two of them began setting up for the party, Aradia handling the decorations while Tavros dealt with the snacks and began moving on to set up some games.  
>"So what's your deal with Sollux?" Tavros asked. Aradia faltered, nearly dropping the ribbon in her hand.<br>"What deal?"  
>"You guys went to Homecoming together. I thought something was, um, happening between you two. In a, um, romantic way, I mean."<br>Aradia rolled her eyes, though she was still facing the wall, so Tavros didn't catch it. "I didn't think of you as a gossip, Tav."  
>Tavros giggled. "It's not that. I was just wondering because I'm having my own girl problems."<br>"What, Vriska?"  
>"Well, yeah, but, uhm, Jade also. I asked her to Homecoming but I don't think she thought of it as a date type thing, and she, um, invited all her other friends. And then, uh, I tried to tell her I liked her, um, on Pesterchum the other day."<br>"What did she say?"  
>"That it was flattering, I guess, but she didn't really think of me that way? She said, 'we don't really know each other that well, and it's kind of coming out of nowhere', so, yeah."<br>"Okay, well, she's not interested, then."  
>"That's it?"<br>"Mhm," Aradia murmured, turning around to face Tavros. He had a look on his face like that of a wounded puppy. He shook it off and met Aradia's eyes again.  
>"Okay," he murmured. "Anyway… people should be here soon. I'm going to go get my costume on. Uh, you can change in the bathroom if you want."<br>Aradia nodded, then took her bag into the bathroom.

She studied herself in the mirror. The costume was from the year before, and it fit her a bit tighter than it used to. Still, once the fedora was placed atop her head, she felt a surge of happiness. Indiana Jones was back in action! Aradia paced back into the kitchen, grazing on the various snacks as she waited for the sound of Tavros coming down his ramp. Eventually he joined her in the kitchen, dressed as Peter Pan. They started some music, the first song being _Spooky Scary Skeletons_, and Aradia bounced to the music. There was something about skeletons that appealed to her, and she began to dance to the rhythm, laughing as she spun Tavros's chair in a circle. He laughed, too, and looked at Aradia.  
>"I'm glad you're having a good time!" he said. Aradia grinned back.<br>"I feel really good right now," she said. And it was true. It was well known among their circle that Halloween was Aradia's favorite holiday, but she hardly expected to feel this great. Aradia pondered it. Maybe isolating herself from her friends hadn't been the smartest move. They cheered her up, which was something that she'd needed lately, but deprived herself of.

The doorbell rang, and Aradia turned the music down to a level more akin to background noise while Tavros wheeled himself into the other room to answer. In came Vriska and Terezi, Vriska dressed as a pirate and Terezi donning a cop costume. For the next half an hour, a steady stream of people came in and the music was turned back up, the Nitram living room slowly turning into a dance floor. Eventually, pizzas were ordered. A handful of people moved outside and bobbed for apples, until it got too dark. Aradia mostly stayed inside, and when she got tired of dancing, she plopped onto Tavros's couch, a glass of lemonade in her hand, and Sollux on the other couch. After a few moments, he stood up and walked away. Aradia sighed. Maybe he was avoiding her.  
>Suddenly the music was gone, Vriska's hand at the volume dial. "Hey losers! Come on, we're starting another game in here." Slowly, people began gravitating towards her, and shuffling into the other room. Aradia shrugged and followed suit, though she wasn't sure she really wanted to be a part of a game Vriska was organizing. As it turned out, that instinct was right, as Vriska was insisting they play '7 Minutes in Heaven'.<br>"Vriska, please, this is so ridiculous," Sollux spoke up. "Besides, what the fuck has this got to do with Halloween?"  
>"Shut your lispy mouth, asshat," Vriska snapped back at him. "You don't <em>have <em>to play, but there's always the chance for some alone time with the freaky girl of your dreams," she pointedly tilted her head towards Aradia. Sollux met Aradia's eyes for a split second, then darted back down to the carpet. "I have taken the liberty of putting all the lady's names into this hat, and all the boys into Terezi's," Vriska said. "Tavros, if you would do the honors?" She tilted her pirate hat down for Tavros to reach his hand in. He cleared his throat before reading it off.  
>"Um, Aradia…?" his voice raised as though he were asking a question. Aradia's eyes widened as Vriska's hand came to her shoulder, ushering her into the closet.<br>"Wait, what?"  
>"Don't worry, Miss Megido, your man will be joining you shortly." With a short, sharp laugh, Vriska shut the closet door behind Aradia, who was surrounded by darkness except for a small sliver under the door. A few silent moments passed, Aradia leaning back on the wall, before the door was thrust open again and another body entered the area. She'd only caught a glimpse of his face before all light was removed again, but Aradia knew it was Equius. She didn't say anything, and neither did he. The silence between them was deafening, and eventually, Aradia spoke.<br>"I had, uhm, a good time dancing with you at Homecoming," she muttered. Equius made a muffled sort of grunting sound as he shuffled in place.  
>"Yes, it was quite nice. You looked… beautiful that night," he said, moving a bit closer. Aradia blushed.<br>"Really?"  
>"Yes, I was surprised that Mr. Captor did not wish to dance with you more." His hands came to her waist. Aradia looked up at him, surprised.<br>"Did he say something to you?"  
>"Not exactly, but I don't believe he appreciates you as much as he should."<br>Aradia looked down, trying not to let Equius's words sting. He brought a finger to her chin, bringing her gaze to his, leaning in and kissing her.  
>Aradia began to pull away, but Equius's lips were surprisingly gentle, and she accepted what was happening, even falling into the kiss a bit, though her eyes never quite fluttered close, and it never quite felt like how she imagined a first kiss. Equius pulled away.<br>"Miss Megido, I would be honored if you would accompany me on a date."  
>"I- what?"<p> 


	6. Don't Fuck With Ouija Boards

Chapter Six

Don't Fuck With Ouija Boards

The closet door was thrust open, Aradia and Equius both blushing at their close proximity to each other. Aradia's eyes darted to Sollux first, whose face wore a crumpled frown. He fidgeted with his glasses before darting away. Aradia looked down. Equius's hand appeared back at her waist, pulling her closer to his side as they walked out of the closet past Vriska, a victorious smirk across her face. Aradia glanced sideways at her, then at Equius as his hand left her waist and tried holding her hand instead. She leaned away. Equius looked at her with some concern, but didn't press the situation further as Aradia slunk into the other room, where she'd seen Sollux disappear to. He leaned over the sink, glasses on the counter next to him. He looked crumpled and defeated, struggling to compose himself, not noticing Aradia.  
>"Sollux…" she murmured. He jumped to attention, straightening himself out.<br>"Hey, AA," he answered, trying to remain cool. But he hardly ever used that nickname anymore, except when he was embarrassed. Hearing it so casually again felt like a step backwards in their friendship. "How was your, uh, time in 'heaven'?"  
>"Nothing special. Equius asked me out, though."<br>"I see," Sollux said, his words hanging in the air. The two stood on opposite sides of the counter, Sollux's heterochromatic eyes baring into Aradia. She wanted to say something, wanted to explain what had happened. Which was nothing, not to her. She didn't say she'd go out with Equius, but he certainly took it that way. The truth was, she hadn't known what to say. Nobody had ever asked her out, on a date, and she didn't know what to say. She'd always expected the first guy to ask her out would be Sollux, because it was obvious to both of them, even if they'd never act on it, that they wanted to be with each other. But Equius asked first, and Aradia hadn't been given an opportunity to say no before Vriska'd yanked the doors open.  
>Aradia couldn't bring herself to say anything else, and Sollux turned on his heel and walked out of the room again, leaving Aradia in the quiet, staring at the place he'd been moments before. The party seemed to resume out of nowhere, the rest of her friends filling up the empty space and the silence being reoccupied by music.<p>

Aradia lay awake that night, Tavros's guest room occupied by all the ladies who'd chosen to spend the night. Jade and Rose and John and Dave left, but not until a little after midnight, and Feferi had a curfew, but other than that, everyone stayed the night. At least to Aradia's knowledge. But she herself couldn't fall asleep. She glanced around the room at the four still, sleeping bodies. What she would give for things to go back to normal. With a quiet sigh, she carefully got to her feet and padded out of the room.  
>Aradia knew Tavros's house well enough and felt comfortable enough there to make herself a mug of hot chocolate and sit herself on the couch, which was exactly her intention, but as she came into the kitchen, she was startled to find someone already down there. Rufioh was quietly watching television from the cushy armchair, and caught Aradia staring like a deer in headlights. He paused his show and stood from the chair.<br>"Hey Aradia," he said, coming into the kitchen.  
>"Oh…hey…Rufioh," Aradia answered, her voice trailing between every word. Aradia had been friends with Tavros for long enough to feel comfortable around his brother. He'd taught them how to play Pokemon when they were younger, and he never hesitated to join in their card games, and Aradia would just as easily count him as a friend. He was way easier to get along with than some of her other friend's siblings, not an intimidating fellow like Mituna. (Well, okay, she wouldn't say Mituna was <em>intimidating<em>, but he had an awful, awful time with social interaction and was difficult to talk to.)  
>"What's goin' on, li'l Droog? Thought you guys were all asleep," Rufioh asked. His intuition brought him to prepare two glasses of hot chocolate, and he held the conversation with Aradia as she stood blankly in the kitchen, watching him pour the instant powder into a pair of mugs.<br>"I couldn't sleep. Mind's too occupied," Aradia said, her voice becoming hollow and tinny.  
>"Mm," Rufioh hummed. He popped the hot chocolate out of the microwave and pushed a mug into Aradia's hands. She took it with a light grip, the warmness in such contrast to her cool hands. "Come on, let's talk. If it helps any, I couldn't sleep either."<br>Aradia took a seat at the kitchen table, Rufioh sitting across from her. At first she couldn't say anything, and Rufioh just let her stay quiet, sipping on his hot chocolate. And then it all came crashing down.  
>"Rufioh, where do I even start?" Aradia cried, tears pooling on the brims of her eyes. "I…"<br>"Take a breath. It's alright."  
>Aradia took a few slow breaths, making sure her exhalation was slow and calm. "Okay, okay. Um, my dad remarried last year. And… my stepmom is nice and all, but I feel like she hasn't really bothered to get to know me. She's not really, ya know, she doesn't seem like she's great with kids. Which is fine, I guess. She supposedly had a really crappy childhood herself, and I guess doesn't know how to handle people my age. But she tries and I try to give her credit for that. Hell, she took Fef and I shopping for Homecoming dresses. It's… augh, it's her daughter I can't stand. She smokes and does drugs and, like, dropped out of school… she's rude and curses at me and refuses to speak proper English even though I <em>know <em>she's been learning…"  
>Rufioh's brow creased more and more as Aradia told her about the family dynamic. "Wait, hey. What did you say your stepsister's name was?"<br>"Um. Damara."  
>Rufioh's eyes shot wide open. "Oh. Makes sense now."<br>"Huh?"  
>"Damara and I used to date. She's a crazy chick, doll. Nearly ripped my head off a coupl'a times."<br>"Was she really that bad when you two were dating?"  
>"Um…no," Rufioh answered as though he were having an epiphany. "It wasn't until things were ending that she started acting like that. Before, she was real timid, and nice. We'd sit and watch anime together, and like… couple stuff, ya know?" Aradia nodded. "But she got, like, weirdly jealous of my friends." Rufioh's cheeks slowly grew more intensely red. Aradia was able to pick up on the fact that Rufioh wasn't telling the whole story, but she didn't have the energy to push him any further. "Hey, Damz and I… we still talk. We're still friends. Tell her I say hey." Aradia nodded again. "Anything else buggin' you?"<br>Aradia sighed. "Just the story of my life. Relationship issues. Equius asked me out tonight and I didn't know how to say no, and I think I really hurt Sollux."  
>"Ah. Been there too, doll, and I'm gonna share my motto with you: Never Panic. You'll figure it out, I'm sure."<br>"Have you?"  
>"Rufioh ran a nervous hand through his red-tipped Mohawk. "Working on it. Zahhaks…man, they're tricky. But hey, both of us should probably get some shut-eye."<br>Aradia nodded again, traipsing back upstairs as Rufioh disappeared into his room on the bottom floor, and to her own surprise, fell asleep the second she hit the pillow.

Aradia dreamt, but it wasn't the same as her regular dreams. Her dreams were usually haunting, echoes of the voices lurking around, the same ones that had been following her for… how long had it even been now? Years?  
>That night's dream was more of a memory, a memory of when the voices in her head first appeared. They came and went, and she thought they were finally gone. Despite everything since the wedding, she hadn't heard them. She'd never listened to them when they were there, though. Not since that first night. It had happened years earlier, but the memory played through her mind that night like a projection on a screen.<br>It was about a month after the death of a Mrs. Rachel Droog. Aradia was 9, sitting in the backyard with her spade in the dirt on an 'archaeological dig', which her father never minded. But she wasn't really invested in what she was doing. She was crying, tears rolling down her cheeks and falling into the dirt underneath her, not paying attention to much else. Somehow she was vaguely aware of her front door opening, a few muffled voices joining her father's, and then the back door opening.  
>"Hi, uhm, Aradia?"<br>She looked up at him with a start. A dorky-looking boy stood in front of her, his face covered with a messy, stringy mop of black hair. He wore an oversized yellow t-shirt with a giant bee on it, baggy jeans that, even cuffed, were too long for his legs, and mismatched sneakers. He peered at her from behind round glasses, offering a hand to help her out of the small pit she was sitting in. Aradia stood up herself, brushing dirt from her pants and wiping the tear streaks off her face.  
>"Hi…" she murmured. She recognized him from class but didn't really know him. "What's your name?"<br>Sollux fumbled for a moment, giving a slight bow. "M'names Sollux. Captor." A very noticeable lisp escaped his lips.  
>"Tholluckth?" Aradia giggled a bit. Sollux's cheeks flushed bright right.<br>"Don't make fun of me!"  
>"Sorry," Aradia said, studying him a bit. "Your eyes don't match." Sollux didn't say anything, instead tugging on the hem of his t-shirt in a futile attempt to hide his eyes. "Sorry," Aradia said again.<br>"S'alright. Uhm, I guess my dads know your dad, and I heard about your mom."  
>"Oh."<br>"They told me to come out and talk to you. We brought flowers." Aradia didn't say anything, didn't even look up at him. "I bet you miss her, huh? I miss my parents too. Or I guess… I just wish I could meet them."  
>Aradia crinkled her brow. "I thought you said you were here with your dads."<br>"Yeah, but two daddies can't have a baby, dummy. I mean my real parents."  
>"Oh."<br>"Hey!" Sollux said suddenly, rocking on his heels. "Do you wanna talk to her again?" Aradia nodded enthusiastically. "I have something that can help!" Sollux grabbed Aradia's hand and the two kids raced inside.

It sat in front of them, Aradia and Sollux sitting across from each other. Aradia played with the ends of her hair.  
>"Sollux, are you sure about this?"<br>"Mhm! If you get scared, you can hold my hand." Aradia nodded curtly as Sollux drew a long breath. "Are there any spirits here?" he asked, bringing his and Aradia's hands to the planchette. It was still, filling the children with a sense of relief. But after a quiet moment, it hovered and shook. The board said 'yes'. Aradia gasped.  
>"What is your name?" Sollux asked. Slowly, it moved, spelling out a name. R-A-C-H-E… but before it could finish, the planchette shook violently; the board <em>itself<em> shook violently. Aradia pulled away from the board, as the lights flickered and a low rumbling seemed to fill the room. Aradia and Sollux fell backwards on opposite sides of the room. Sollux began crawling towards the door, reaching for the doorknob. Aradia scrambled to her feet as the door got yanked open, then-

Aradia woke up. The voices were back.

That fucking Ouija board.


End file.
